2001 CUNARD GUESTS WILL GET A "PRIVATE SALE" OF QM2 SAILINGS

Exclusive Month-Long Preview of Inaugural Season on World's Largest Liner

Miami, December 13, 2000 -- In an unprecedented move, Cunard Line has announced that guests who sail aboard the line's Queen Elizabeth 2 or Caronia during 2001 will be granted an exclusive, month-long "Patrons' Preview" of Inaugural Season passages aboard Queen Mary 2, due to be completed in late 2003. Names of guests sailing on either of the company's existing liners in the coming year will be kept, and a private catalogue of QM2's inaugural season sailings will be sent to them in advance of its publication. They will have a 30-day period in which to reserve their choices of departures and accommodations before the ship is opened to public sale. Guests who have already booked or who book on QE2's 2002 World Cruise by December 31, 2001, will likewise enjoy the exclusive privilege.

"Queen Mary 2 will undoubtedly be the most famous ship in the world even before she sails," said Larry Pimentel, CTC, President and CEO of Cunard Line. "We have already experienced a tremendous surge of global interest in Cunard's first new liner in a generation and thousands of inquiries about her inaugural voyages. Our task is not so much to create demand for this new ship as it is to manage this unprecedented demand in a fair and equitable manner."

At 1,132 feet long, 135 feet wide and 150,000 gross registered tons, QM2 will be the largest, longest and widest passenger vessel ever built. She will be just 117 feet shorter than the Empire State Building is tall, yet she will carry just 2,620 guests, served by nearly 1,300 crew. Accommodations will range from 194 square feet to 5,000 square feet or even larger, with 77 percent offering ocean views, and nearly three-fourths having large private balconies. Stylistically, QM2 will recall the grand ocean liners of Cunard's past, with sweeping staircases, towering domed public rooms, five swimming pools, a grand ballroom and a broad 360-degree Promenade Deck. Yet she will be technologically very advanced, with a four-pod propulsion system, sophisticated classrooms, conference and multimedia facilities and even an onboard planetarium.

To qualify for the Patron's Preview, guests can sail in 2001 or in 2002 on QE2's World Cruise (booked by December 31, 2001), either on the complete circumnavigation or on a range of segments. Other 2001 options include any of her regularly-scheduled themed Transatlantic crossings, one of the innovative Cape Town Line Voyages between England and South Africa, or a cruise in the Mediterranean, Canada & New England or Northern Europe. On Caronia, guests have a wide array of possible choices, from South America to Scandinavia, the Norwegian Fjords, British Isles, Spain and Portugal, Canada & New England and the Cape Town Line Voyages.